EU enlargement has not drawn tide of workers to UK

The addition of 10 new countries to the European Union two months ago has not led to an influx of people seeking work in the UK, a leading global employment agency said on Thursday.
The results of a survey by the Manpower employment agency are likely to be used against critics of EU enlargement who claimed that Britain would be awash with foreigners trying to take jobs away from Britons.
The survey of Manpower's 300 offices across the UK found that about half the branches saw an increase of less than 10 applicants seeking work in the first month after EU enlargement, on May 1.
Sixteen percent of branches reported an increase of more than 20 applicants while 11 percent reported no increase in job-seekers at all.
"Contrary to much speculation, Manpower believes it is unlikely that EU enlargement will result in a flood of migrant labour from the East to the West," the report said.
Britain is currently experiencing one of the tightest job markets in Europe, with unemployment at multi-decade lows and overall employment at record highs.
Wage inflation has begun to pick up, in part because of a shortage of available workers.
Bank of England policymakers - who are expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.50 percent on Thursday but are likely to put them up again in August - have said they are watching wages data closely, making sure pay increases are not putting upward pressure on inflation.
Recent research from Manpower found that 22 percent of 2,100 UK companies polled said that workers from new member states would help fill some of those skills gaps in the UK jobs market.
"These workers, who can enjoy the benefits and opportunities of the UK's flexible labour market, can also play a key role in alleviating the country's skills shortage," the report said.
Economists generally agree that over the long term immigration contributes positively to economies, increasing the well-being of existing workers as new additions to the workforce often take lower-paying jobs and push others up the payscale. The new member states that joined the EU on May 1 were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Those new entrants have increased the EU's total population by 75 million to 450 million. The UK's population is 59 million.
Manpower said the survey was conducted during May and the figures were compiled in June.